SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN INDONESIA: 

1. 2nd Youth Congress, 1928. The first public gathering that put forward the idea of 
"Indonesia", alongside with Indonesian identity. The first time anthem of Indonesia, 
"Indonesia Raya", was performed too. Oftentimes written as "Sumpah Pemuda" (Youth 
Oath) on Indonesian history books, while its accuracy is still debated. 

2. Proclamation of Independence, 17 August 1945. 2 atomic bombing in Japan and the 

subsequent unconditional surrender by the Japanese made the founding fathers to 
proclaim Indonesian independence. 

3. Round Table Conference, 1949. After the return of Dutch occupational army, Indonesia 
fought both militarily and diplomatically. Indonesian ability to put down communist uprising 
in 1948 convinced the UN (particularly US) to pressurise he Dutch into conference table. 
The result was the acknowledgement of the sovereignty of Indonesia by the UN. 

4. First General Election, 1955. Indonesia was able to hold its first election just 10 years 
after its Proclamation and less than 6 years after gaining full sovereignty. 

5. Presidential Decree, 1959. Legislative's inability to produce a new constitution finally 

made President Sukarno to issue a decree: back to 1945 constitution, dissolve the 
legislative. Indonesia slowly leaned towards communism. 

6. Communist Coup, 1965. This is undoubtedly one of the most controversial event in 
Indonesian history. The official history states that Communist Party, convinced that the 
army was about to launch a coup, then moved, kidnapped, and executed leading army 
generals. The subsequent events would lead to a crisis in 1966 and then removal of 
Sukarno from power and saw Suharto took over. Let me say this again: this is what the 
official history says, it's sill highly debated until now. The end of "Old Order" under Sukarno, 
the beginning of "New Order" under Suharto. 

7. 1977 Election. While the previous election was included many political parties, the 1977 
election saw the increasing authority of President Suharto. He merged bunch of political 
parties into just two: Muslim (under PPP) and socialist (under PDI), alongside his own 
"Golongan Karya". Golongan Karya (Golkar) was not a political party, but acted like one, and 
it has the backing of Suharto, so it wins every subsequent election until 1997. 

8. 1998 Crisis. One of the darkest period in Indonesia. The capital was in turmoil. Pillages 
and rapes happened daily. Increasing hatred and prejudice towards the Chinese descents. 
Living cost skyrocketed. Mass riots happens here and then. After the Parlament building 
was besieged by demonstrators, mainly university students, Suharto then would announce 
his resignation. The subsequent period would be called "Reformation Period". 

9. 1999 Election. The first post-New Order election. The participants increased from 3 in the 
previous election to 48 parties. The winner was PDI-P, a party led by Megawati (Sukarno's 
daughter), but the subsequent presidential election by the parliament saw Abdurrahman 
Wahid (Gus Dur) as winner. 

10. 2004 Election. The first time Indonesia elect their own president directly. Susilo 
Bambang Yudhoyono was the first directly-elected president in the history of Indonesia. 
Even US still hasn't a direcly-elected president yet (Ha!).